My son is 6 years old and is in 1st grade. He attended kindergarten at a private Montessori school and his teacher suggested testing which was done by our local public school. Based on the testing he qualified for an IEP and was diagnosed with a perceptual or communicative disability. The accommodations listed in his IEP are “repetition, use of manipulatives, drill and practice, visual aids for alphabet, use of a number chart, multi-sensory instruction, extra time to complete assignments, extra praise to help boost self confidence, lots of modeling.” Specific services needed are listed as “learning specialist support pullout and in the classroom”. .5 hours indirect, 2.5 integrated services in general classroom, 3.5 hours direct outside general classroom.
His problems are related to learning the alphabet, phonics, short-term memory problems, sequencing, etc….
This was all done in Colorado. Well, we have now moved to Texas. I had a team meeting 2 weeks ago and was basically told that they don’t believe the Colorado tests. (Which I was told are Federal tests and they have to accept.) His teacher, who has had him in class for all of 2 weeks at that time said “I don’t see a boy with a disability. I see a boy who is lazy.” Based on this they will not follow the IEP. What they suggested is that he have “content mastery” assistance (which I understand to mean that he is in the class for all instructions but if he is confused he can go to the CM person and get further instruction) and we will re-adress in 30 days.
Well, more weeks have passed and he hasn’t been to CM yet. We are struggling. He does 1 to 1 1/2 hours of home work per night and still isn’t performing. We have 10 spelling words per week, which we receive on Monday with a test on Friday, and we study and study and the best he’s done so far is 50%. His teacher writes “Please Study” on his tests. I’ve told her how long we study and I’ve asked to received the words on Friday - request denied.
I don’t know what to do. What are my rights? Where do I go? This is all new to me. I’m ready to pull him or push him back to kindergarten.
Thoughts please?
Thank you!!
Kristin
Tx
Welcome to Texas. Ugh. Sounds like your Colorado district had a lot more on the ball.
Are you near Dallas? You can get some help from Scottish Rite Hospital. They help kids with learning disabilities and it’s either free or sliding scale. There are also numerous private schools in the Dallas area that serve kids with learning disabilities.
Makes me so mad about that ignorant teacher saying your child is lazy! There are so many variables. Does your school happen to house any special programs for the district? If so, the school could be using up all of it’s special ed slots with these kids. Schools are only allowed to have a certain percentage of kids in special ed. IEPs follow kids from school to school but each school has different services and the IEP has to be modified to match what the school offers - not necessarily what the child needs.
Check out the above legal website that the earlier poster put out there. You are supposed to have rights, but, really, 98% of the time the school wins. I’d seek private resources instead.
Re: Help...how do I handle this?
You have a right to demand the services in that IEP until they prove he doesn’t need it. They are in violation of the law if they aren’t providing the services unless you signed something changing them. However, the sad truth is, they may not have a clue of how to help him.
Where are you? If you are in the Houston area, I’d highly recommend contacting the Texas Reading Institute. Second to that, I’d be looking for a Lindamood-Bell Clinic.
http://www.texasreadinginstitute.org/
Janis
Re: Help...how do I handle this?
And one more thing, I’d get him out of that teacher’s class. Don’t make him endure a teacher all year who thinks he’s just lazy.
Janis
Re: Help...how do I handle this?
Even if the school cannot provide the help your child needs the least they can do is pay for someone who can. ie a private school. I agree remove him from that class, no one needs to hear negative feedback daily. Find an educational lawyer for advice on how to obtain money for his education. Best of luck.
A follow-up...
I spoke with the principal yesterday and she thinks the best option is to have her team re-test him here in Texas. What are the pros and cons for this?
I am in the DFW area so I’m going to get him a ped’s appointment and talk to the ped about the Scottish Rite Hospital. And I’m studying the Wright’s Law website.
Re: Help...how do I handle this?
Are you at the 30 days yet?
REquest, in writing, to set that meeting up on the 30th day after they made that comment. “I will be available at 10am or 1pm on Thursday, Sept 30th. PLease notify me which of those times best fits your schedule. I expect to hear from you by end of day Sept 23rd.”
CC copies to the head of special ed and anyone else you can think of
Heck, mention their comment about Colorado test results being invalid and cc the CO head of special ed, whether you sent it or not
IOW, get tough. DO NOT go to that meeting alone. Bring your spouse, your neighbor, you MIL-whoever. You are entitled to bring anyone you wish.
Often just putting on a game face makes them taek you more seriously
NO ONE wants to go to due process
You gave it a try their way and its not working….document what you are doing for spelling so its not just ‘we study’ Monday-wrote each word three times Tues-spelled each aloud to dad 4 times etc etc
NOT giving the words to you on Fri????? Geez, Louise-what a simple request that is. Makes me want to make them work harder just for being so nasty about it
Re: Help...how do I handle this?
You will learn how to translate “eduspeak” in a short time.
“your child is lazy” translates into “we have to limit how many children we serve because we do not have money”
You need to get yourself an experienced advocate. Here is the link to PTI, which will give you the contact person(s) for TX
http://www.fcsn.org/ptis/ptilist.htm
The next thing you may hear from them is that YOU are the problem, not some “fictitious” disability/condition/syndrome YOU think your child has.
Good luck to you, and please do not hesitate to ask questions in this forum. There are many knowledgable and helpful people here.
the myth of the lazy child
Good luck in your uphill battle for your son.
In the meantime, don’t put all your energy into fighting the school system. There are many ways you can help your son.
I recommend that you check out a web site: www.balametrics.com
Children who struggle with reading have weak vestibular (inner ear) systems. At this web site you can purchase a balance board and some other materials plus instructions to do movement activites with your son on the balance board. If you do these activities for a few minutes daily, it will strengthen the vestibular system which in turn improves muscle tone and improves auditory and visual skills, all necessary for reading.
The site will explain quite a lot. Another good resource is www.handle.org and www.bal-a-vis-x.com
the l word
The L word, hmmm. That’s a cardinal sin in most schools. You could come back with questions as how the school plans to motivate him. But I would urge you to focus on your son and his needs and pick your battles with the school.
You were fortunate to get a wonderful set of specific recommendations from Co. So you have a clear idea of what you want/need. The response of the teacher is totally unacceptable and the dir. of Sp. Ed. will be able to recognize that. It says very little for the school that the principle didn’t step on that immediately. It speaks volumes about lack of professionalism. The refusal to provide spelling words is very silly. But in all honesty, if you are studying a list of 10 words for 4 days and its not working, then 7 days won’t help. That’s where correct reading instruction comes in and hence the recommendation for the lindamood bell reading clinic/methods. I would forget the spelling list issue and progress directly to effective methods of teaching reading. I would agree with the teacher that its not working and have the school step up to the plate for appropriate instruction. I would go for the suggestion that until they can prove he doesn’t need it, they provide it. I second, third, and fourth the suggestion that you do not go alone to the meeting. They are DIFFICULT and you are very emotionally involved-it IS your child. Do some searches on previous posts on meeting strategies. There were a wealth of suggestions. 1. document everything on paper; no phone calls 2. you can tape meetings with prior notification (can be done nicely-“the meeting goes so fast, I need the tapes to reflect, or so that my husband can hear what happened. 3. keep a binder of all correspondence, the paper trail will be essential
But no child can be successful with a teacher who thinks they are lazy. You have an incompetant teacher and thats as big an issue as any. 6 hours a day with someone who despises you is soul killing for anyone. Be sure to document the lazy comment. I would be looking for another classroom placement.
I would add that I would be careful about what you say about the teacher around your child. They pick up everything and it puts your child in the middle of the adult conflict.
Good luck. Keep us informed. We have all been through the teacher from hell experience. It helps to vent.
Re: Help...how do I handle this?
As one responder stated, welcome to Texas. If you are military, there are school liasons located on each base.
Unfortunately, the school district in which your son attends, does not have to accept the evaluation done in Colorado. However, you stated that he qualified for an iep bt you don’t mention whether or not an iep was actually developed and followed in Colorado. Qualifying for an iep and having one, is two different things. Also, there is no such thing as federal tests, just federal laws.
In the event an iep was developed and implemented in Colorado then the Texas school district mst follow that iep until they have completed their evaluation. At which time, an ARD (Texas for iep) meeting will be held. Either they will state that he doesn’t qualify (in which case you can disagree and the ARD goes into a ten day recess) or they will state that he does qualify and will then proceed to develop an iep for him.
Hope this helps…..if you need further assitance, I’m in Texas and you can email me at [email protected]
Re: Help...how do I handle this?
Just read where you spoke to the principal. Did the principal put into writing that he needed to be retested? If so, then the clock and calendar are ticking away. If the principal only said it then they can drag their feet.
What you can do, is put your own request in for your son to be evaluated. By virtue of the fact that he was evaluated and found to be eligible for Special Edcation services in Colorado and is now strggling.
Why are they not following the iep that was developed? Re-read your original post. That violates both federal and state law and a state complaint should be filed. As stated in the previous post, contact me at [email protected] if you need further help.
Good luck
Doris
You do have rights to the best education for your son.
http://www.wrightslaw.com/